Selective dissemination of information

I claim:

1. A database user alerting method for use with a database system in which are stored a plurality of information items, said method including the steps, performed in a computer system, of:

storing in association with each information item in the database system a plurality of parameters including (i) at least one keyword indicative of the subject matter of said information item, and (ii) a priority level value for each information item, wherein said priority level value is selected from a predetermined set of priority level values, and wherein said at least one keyword is selected from a finite hierarchical set of keywords having a tree structure relating broad keywords to progressively narrower keywords;

creating and storing an interest profile for each database user indicative of categories of information of interest to said each database user, said interest profile comprising (i) a list of keywords taken from said finite hierarchical set and (ii) an associated priority level value for each keyword;

comparing the parameters stored in association with each information item with the stored interest profile for each database user; and,

alerting a database user of the existence of an information item when said interest profile for that database user includes (i) at least one keyword associated with the information item and (ii) a priority level value associated with said at least one keyword that does not exceed the priority level value associated with the information item.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said priority level value is a value within a range of low to high priority level values, said method further including the step of increasing the number of keywords stored in association with an information item in proportion, and in response, to an increased priority level value.

3. The method as claimed in claim 2, wherein said step of increasing the number of keywords adds keywords connected by said tree structure.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1, further including the step of permitting a database user to create a comment item of information, and storing in association with the comment item said plurality of parameters.

5. The method as claimed in claim 4, wherein said comment item is related to an information item by the comment item having a set of parameters substantially similar to the parameters of said information item, said method further including the step of permitting the database user to modify said parameters of said information item.

6. The method as claimed in claim 5, further including the step of relating a number of comment items having at least one common parameter, said common parameter defining a context, said related items defining a discussion.

7. The method as claimed in claim 6, further including the step of storing, in association with each information item, a parameter indicative of an expiry date beyond which the priority level value is changed to initiate deleting the item or archiving the item.

8. The method as claimed in claim 7, further including the step of taking, as an expiry date parameter of a group of related items, the latest expiry date of the expiry dates of each item.

9. The method as claimed in claim 1, further including the step of storing, in association with an information item, parameters indicating that access to said information item is to be restricted to members of one or more groups of database users.

10. The method as recited in claim 9, further including the step of allowing the database user to examine an information item whose parameters match parameters selected by the database user provided that said database user is a member of a group indicated by the parameters associated with said information item.

11. A database user alerting system including a plurality of information items, said system alerting database users of the system to the presence in the system of selected ones of said plurality of information items of interest to each of said database users, said system including:

means to store a finite hierarchical set of keywords having a tree structure relating broad keywords to progressively narrower keywords;

means to store said plurality of information items;

means to store, in association with each of said information items, a plurality of parameters including (i) at least one keyword indicative of the subject matter of each of said information items and (ii) a priority level value for each of said information items, wherein said priority level value is selected from a predetermined set of priority level values, and wherein said at least one keyword is selected from said hierarchical set;

means to create an interest profile for each of said database users indicative of categories of information of interest to said database users, said interest profile comprising (i) a list of keywords taken from said finite hierarchical set and (ii) an associated priority level value for each keyword;

comparator means to determine said selected items of information of interest to each database user by comparing the parameters stored in association with each information item with the parameters stored in the interest profile for each database user and by selecting information items when the interest profile for a database user includes (i) at least one keyword associated with the information item and (ii) a priority level value associated with the at least one keyword that does not exceed the priority level value associated with the information item; and,

output means to output an indication of the or each selected items of information of interest to each corresponding database user.

12. The system as claimed in claim 11, wherein the priority level value is a value within a range of low to high priority level values, said system further including means to increase the number of keywords associated with an information item in proportion, and in response, to an increased priority level value.

13. The system as claimed in claim 12, wherein said means to increase the number of keywords includes means to add keywords connected by said tree structure.

14. The system as claimed in claim 11, further including means to permit a database user to create a comment item of information, and means to store, in association with each said comment item, said plurality of parameters.

15. The system as claimed in claim 14, further comprising means to relate said comment item to an existing information item by substantially duplicating the parameters of said existing information item and associating those parameters with said comment item, and means to permit the database user to modify the parameters associated with said comment item.

16. The system as claimed in claim 15, further including means to relate a plurality of comment items having at least one common parameter.

17. The system as claimed in claim 11, further including means to associate with each information item a parameter indicative of an expiry date beyond which the priority level value is changed to initiate deleting the item or archiving the item.

18. The system as claimed in claim 17, further including means to establish the expiry date parameter of a group of related items as the latest expiry date of the expiry dates of any of the items.

19. The system as claimed in claim 11, wherein information items include parameters indicating that access to the information item is to be restricted to members of one or more groups of database users.

20. The system as claimed in claim 11, further including means to allow a database user to examine an information item whose parameters match parameters selected by the database user.

21. The system as claimed in claim 20, further including means to allow said database user to modify said information item whose parameters match parameters selected by the database user.

Description Submit all comments and votes

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to information technology and, in particular, to a method and apparatus whereby users of a database system may be alerted to important information including text, graphics and other electronically stored information within the system and by which means information may be efficiently disseminated.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Conventional information services provide a spectrum of features. At one end of the scale, simple databases allow users to access information according to a more or less specialised indexing arrangement; however the efficiency of such a system depends on the ease of use of the indexing arrangement and relies on the users to search for the information they require. General computer conferencing systems gather information related to a broad topic and make it available to users but do not classify information according to importance nor do they provide adequate alerting to users of information availability or adequately preserve the context of information having regard to previous related items. Electronic mail allows information to be directed to specific users and thus permit interactive access to information and communication of ideas, but this arrangement relies on the originator of the information knowing the interests and talents of each potential communicatee.

Furthermore, the increasing complexity and quantity of data available from information services has generated new problems for both providers and consumers, including: how to distinguish useful information from irrelevant material; how to determine the reliability of information; and how to link new information with earlier reports on related topics.

These problems arise when inadequate criteria are applied to information distribution, and when soft (or informal) information is not collected and disseminated effectively.

It is an object of the present invention to provide methods and apparatus for efficient dissemination of information which overcome, or at least ameliorate, some of the disadvantages of the prior art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In a first aspect of the present invention, a database user alerting method, for use with a database system in which are stored a plurality of information items includes the steps, performed in a computer system, of:

storing in association with each information item in the database system a plurality of parameters including (i) at least one keyword indicative of the subject matter of said information item and (ii) a priority level value indicative of the importance of said each information item, said at least one keyword being selected from a finite hierarchical set of keywords having a tree structure relating broad keywords to progressively narrower keywords;

creating and storing an interest profile for each database user indicative of categories of information of interest to said each database user, said interest profile comprising (i) a list of keywords taken from said finite hierarchical set and (ii) an associated priority level value for each keyword;

comparing the parameters stored in association with each information item with the stored interest profile for each database user; and,

alerting a database user of the existence of an information item when said interest profile for that database user includes (i) at least one keyword associated with the information item and (ii) a priority level value for each information item, wherein said priority level value is selected from a predetermined set of priority level values, and wherein said at least one keyword is selected from a finite hierarchical set of keywords having a tree structure relating broad keywords to progressively narrower keywords

means to store said plurality of information items;

means to store, in association with each of said information items, a plurality of parameters including (i) at least one keyword indicative of the subject matter of each of said information items and (ii) a priority level value for each of said information items, wherein said priority level value is selected from a predetermined set of priority level values, and wherein said at least one keyword is selected from said hierarchical set

means to create an interest profile for each of said database users indicative of categories of information of interest to said database users, said interest profile comprising (i) a list of keywords taken from said finite hierarchical set and (ii) an associated priority level value for each keyword;

comparator means to determine said selected items of information of interest to each database user by comparing the parameters stored in association with each information item with the parameters stored in the interest profile for each database user and by selecting information items when the interest profile for a database user includes (i) at least one keyword associated with the information item and a priority level value associated with the at least one keyword does not exceed the priority level value associated with the information item; and,

output means to output an indication of the or each selected items of information of interest to each corresponding database user.

Preferably, the priority level is a value within a range of low to high priority levels and the method further includes the step of increasing the number of keywords stored in association with an information item in proportion and in response to an increased priority level. Preferably, keywords broader than the previous selected keyword or keywords are added.

Preferably, a used is permitted to create a comment information item related to an original information item by its parameters. Where several related comment items, together with an original item, form a "discussion" by one or more users, provision is preferably made to preserve the "context" of the discussion items by presenting the user creating a comment item with a default set of parameters replicating the parameters of the original item and inviting the user to modify the default parameters.

Preferably also, the parameters stored in association with each information item include a value indicative of an expiry date, at which time the utility of the information item is deemed to be negligible. Deleting and archiving of information items is performed after the expiry date is reached and, for groups of related comment items, after the latest expiry date of any item in the group is reached.

Provision is also preferably made for restriction of dissemination of information to members of distribution groups or security groups. Distribution groups can be formed by any user whereas security groups are created by a system administrator according to the permitted access to information of the respective users.

A conventional database system of text and image information generally includes a number of information items which may be retrieved, examined and possibly modified by reference to a more or less specific indexing scheme. Such a system may assign to each item of information in the system a descriptive label comprising one or more keywords chosen according to the subject matter of the database to classify the information it contains. Where information is entered by the users of the system, the responsibility of classification can be addressed by those users. It is also possible, for example where information is derived from very specialised sources, to classify the data automatically rather than by user intervention. For this purpose, the occurrence of keywords and phrases matching those in a list of topics can be taken as a clue to the subject matter and used for classification.

A particular advantage of the present invention is that by taking keywords from a hierarchical list, where different levels contain keywords of different scope, and relating the level of keyword to the perceived importance of the information it describes, users may obtain or receive information of selected importance in addition to nominated subject matter .

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a block schematic diagram illustrating a computer system for use with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating major subsystems of a preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention;

FIGS. 3(A) and 3(B), taken together, is a flowchart illustrating the item creation subsystem of FIG. 2;

FIGS. 4(A) and 4(B) , taken together, is a flowchart illustrating the interest profile creation subsystem of FIG. 2;

FIGS. 5(A) and 5(B), taken together, is a flowchart illustrating the item dissemination subsystem of FIG. 2;

FIGS. 6(A) and 6(B), taken together, is a flowchart illustrating the commenting/discussion building subsystem of FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 shows an example discussion structure; and

FIG. 8 and FIG. 9 show a Keyword Escalation subsystem of the preferred embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

In the preferred embodiment of a system in accordance with the present invention, a computer system as illustrated in FIG. 1 is employed. Referring now to FIG. 1, the computer system 1 comprises a plurality of terminals 2 connected to a central processing unit (CPU) 3 having mass storage in the form of a disk drive 4 and main memory 5. Each terminal provides a keyboard 6 for interrogating the system of the invention and for data entry. In addition a video display unit (VDU) 7 is provided for the display of system responses and prompts. Although a system in accordance with the invention may be implemented on a computer having a single keyboard and VDU, such as a personal computer, it will be appreciated that the dissemination of information amongst a large number of users is best approached through a multi-user system. A network of computers (whether personal or multi-user) would also be appropriate.

In use, a software package implementing the system of the invention is executed by the computer system of FIG. 1 in conventional manner. The software maintains a database in mass storage and manages a number of ancillary files, as will be discussed hereafter. The software may be designed as a single integrated program or as a suite of programs, each responsible for a subsystem of the complete system. FIG. 2 shows in schematic form the major subsystems of the preferred embodiment and therefore provides an overview.

Referring to FIG. 2, information items are collected and entered into the system either by batch entry 10 from abstracting services, wire services, clipping services and the like, by submission from electronic mail terminals or by on-line entry from system users 11. Information entered by system users may include ideas, assessments, rumours, predictions, explanations and the like, and may be directly entered or copied from another source. Following entry each item is classified according to the information it contains, the audience for which it is intended, and other parameters selected by the originator. Some of the classification may be automated. The Item Creation Subsystem 12 leads the user through the classification of the item and accesses a number of ancillary files in mass storage. As will be discussed in more detail hereafter, the files shown in FIG. 2 are User Table 13, Group Table 14 and Thesaurus Table 15.

Similarly, the Interest Profile Creation Subsystem 16 accesses a Profile Table 17 file and refers to the Thesaurus Table 15.

The Commenting/Discussion-Building Subsystem 18 accesses IN-Tray 19 files, Message Header 20, Item Text 21 and Attached Document 22 files.

The Dissemination Subsystem 23 accesses all the last four files in addition to the Profile Table 17.

The use of files to pass data between subsystems is an approach leading to a more modular and therefore reliable system. It will be appreciated however that in other embodiments different techniques may be used without departing from the principle of the invention.

Central to the classification of information items in the preferred embodiment is the assignment of keywords according to the content of the item. Keywords are chosen either automatically by scanning the text or by user selection from a hierarchical list linking broader topics to related narrower topics. The list, or topic structure, is known as a thesaurus, although synonyms are not used. Keywords for information classification may be taken only from the thesaurus. It will be understood that, in the context of the present invention, `keyword` includes descriptive phrases. The hierarchical organisation of the thesaurus reflects the generality of keywords.

Sample thesauri are shown in Tables 1 and 2. Each keyword below the top level (`EXECUTIVE` and `MARKETING AND SALES`) has at least one broader keyword and may have one or more narrower keywords associated with it. Thus, for example, in Table 2 CUSTOMERS is a narrow keyword related to MARKETING AND SALES, but is broader than RETAIL CUSTOMERS. Note that ellipsis in both Tables 1 and 2 indicates the omission of one or more levels of the thesaurus. The keywords are based on the work context so that they are reasonably mnemonic, if not intuitively obvious, to the users. In some organisations activity falls into distinct and even non-interacting categories, such as research and marketing. A single thesaurus designed to accommodate all possible activities of interest to a multi-faceted organisation would be too cumbersome for the users to handle easily. Selecting a keyword from a very large thesaurus would be a difficult proposition. The system therefore provides multiple thesauri, each directed to a different field of activity. In this situation the user must specify the thesaurus as `keys` in a database search.

In addition to the keywords associated with each item of information, the system assigns or asks the user to assign a priority level or importance value to each item. The priority level represents the item's perceived importance. Typically, a finite set of priority levels is permitted. In the preferred embodiment four such values are allowed; these are low, medium, high and urgent corresponding roughly to routine, unusual, important and critical items of information. There is, however, no fundamental bar to a greater or lesser number of priority levels; the choice must be made so that meaningful differences can be distinguished.

It will be apparent that although `perceived importance` may be indicated by or inferred from the source of the information (e.g. news services) it will often be a subjective judgment which must be made by the users. This however is a fundamental advantage of the present invention and will be described more fully below.

Further parameters are assigned to each information item to assist in system administration. These parameters include: author identification, source identification and a time stamp. To further facilitate dissemination of information the system recognises that users may form distinct groups. Thus, for example, an information item may be labelled so as to restrict dissemination to only those users specified as a security group.

Referring now to FIGS. 3(A) and(B), there is shown a flowchart illustrating the Item Creation subsystem 12 of the preferred embodiment. In order to use the Item Creation subsystem the software embodying the invention must have been executed. After suitable initialisation and verification of user access (e.g. user name, password) the user's VDU presents a Main System Menu. The user's responses are indicated by operation of the keyboard or, in some cases, a pointing device such as a mouse.

Beginning at START in FIGS. 3(A), the user selects "Create an Original Item" 101 from the Main System Menu. The user then nominates 102 the type of item being created by selecting from a further menu 103 of the available types: Open, Group and Private. If the user selects Group 104 and enters a particular group name 105, the system determines by reference to a file designated Group Table 14, on the disk drive, whether 106 the user is a member of that Group. The security features of the preferred embodiment ensure that an information item of type Group can only be disseminated to members of the user's group. It is necessary to nominate that group at 105 because a user may belong to several groups. A negative response to the type query 104 implies that the item may be of Open or Private type, in which case group recipients may still be nominated, but dissemination will not be restricted to members of the group only. A further query 107 determines therefore whether group recipients are to be nominated--to be entered 105 and checked 106 as previously described.

Once the system is satisfied as to group membership the user enters 108 item text indicating, in response to a subsequent enquiry 109, whether the information derives from a default source or some alternate source specified 110 by the user. Similarly, the system enquires whether the item is to have a default expiry date 111 or an expiry date within the valid range of 1 to 20 weeks 112 entered 113 by the user. It will be understood that the range of valid expiry dates may be variable according to the application of the invention, and may in some circumstances be nominated by the user.

Further enquiries establish whether the user wishes to nominate attached documents 114 and accept the default priority level 115. If it is desired to nominate attached documents, which are then effectively incorporated into the information item by reference, the documents must be specified 116. The attachment of documents in the system provides that they may be readily presented in their original format to users inspecting the information item or alerted by the dissemination function. The default priority level is determined by such factors as the item's source and the user's identity. Alternatively, the default may be overriden by a value entered 117 by the user from a list 118 of valid priority levels. Typically the list includes the values Urgent, High, Medium and Low.

Dissemination of information items may also be achieved by the use of keywords or by directly specifying intended recipients. Accordingly, the user is asked at 119 whether the information is of type Private. Private items are not disseminated through keywords. A negative answer therefore prompts a request 120 for keywords. The keywords entered 121 by the user are compared and verified against a Thesaurus Table 15 file on the disk drive. Only valid keywords are accepted.

Finally, the user is asked 122 to nominate 123 individual recipients. Thus, the user may specify individual recipients in addition to the group recipients nominated 107 earlier and those determined by dissemination through keywords. Individual recipients specified by the user are verified against a User Table 13 file on the disk drive which maintains records for each valid user.

At this point the parameters necessary for item dissemination 124 have been defined and control by the Item Creation subsystem may be relinquished. Control may temporarily pass to the Keyword Escalation subsystem, as will be described hereinafter with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9. Additional item parameters will also be discussed as they relate to features of the invention yet to be described.

In other embodiments, items can be created by a batch entry process in which text derived from news wire services, computer bulletin boards, word processors etc, is assembled with keywords selected from the thesaurus automatically by matching the text against nominated keywords from the thesaurus or synonyms of those keywords. Users can also submit text to the system by electronic mail for automatic keyword selection.

For each user of the system an interest profile is created which lists categories of information of interest to the user and comprises another list of keywords taken from one or more thesauri with, for each keyword, the priority level that an item must have for it to be of interest to that user. Thus a user will only be alerted to information he or she wants to see. The user may also nominate an `all message` priority which indicates interest by the user in any item at that priority, or higher. Table 3 shows two sample interest profiles--for users interested in the computer and finance industries. Referring to Table 3, it will be noted that the computer oriented user has elected to receive notification of all urgent information items by means of the `all message priority`. These examples assume of course, the existence of thesauri incorporating the keywords used.

Refe